Fodina argentea Sahlensis – A Silver Mine at Sala - I (from Aubry de La Mottraye's "Travels throughout Europe, Asia and into Part of Africa...," London, 1724, vol. II, pl. 33, no. 1)
Medium
Etching and engraving
Dimensions
sheet: 9 11/16 x 6 11/16 in. (24.6 x 17 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1932
Accession Number
32.35(226)
Tags
Art Historical Context
Behold *Fodina argentea Sahlensis – A Mine at Sala - I*, a vivid etching and engraving from 1723–24, by William Hogarth after observations by traveler Aubry de La Motaye. Featured in volume II, plate 33 of La Mottraye's celebrated *Travels throughout Europe, Asia and into of Africa* (London, 1724), this print captures the bustling underground world of Sweden's renowned Sala silver mine. Human figures labor amid towering buildings and roaring fires, likely smelters or forges, offering a rare glimpse into 18th-century industrial life. Hogarth, then an emerging artist known for his satirical wit...
About the Artist
William Hogarth|Aubry de La Mottraye · 1697–1764
William Hogarth (1697-1764) was an English painter, printmaker, and pictorial satirist who became the first great English-born artist to attract admiration abroad. Born into poverty in London, the son of a failed schoolmaster who was imprisoned for debt, Hogarth's early experiences with the harsh realities of 18th-century urban life profoundly shaped his artistic vision. After apprenticing with si...